Time change hazardous to your health?

By turning our clocks forward just that one hour, we can disrupt chronobiologic rhythms and influence the duration and quality of sleep and health.

The effects of that change can last for several days after the shift, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.

A 2008 study in the journal showed that individuals had an approximately 5 percent greater risk of having a heart attack immediately following the springtime clock change than they did the week before the shift.

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Study authors say that the onset of DST and heart attacks may have to do with the “relationship between sleep deprivation and cardiovascular health.”

Think about it, says cardiologist Joan Crawford, D.O., a medical director for the American Heart Association of Southeast Michigan. You’re disrupting your body’s circadian rhythms and getting less sleep, so all of your rates jump up.

And “people are just tired from one hour less sleep,” she said.

Crawford, who also is a medical director at St. John Health and on staff at Eastlake Cardiovascular Associates in St. Clair Shores, said heart and blood pressure rates rise around dawn. On weekends, when you’re able to sleep longer (past dawn) and don’t face an alarm sounding, nor the stress of going to work, it’s more of a relaxed awakening, allowing your body to ease into the day.

So when Monday comes, your body gets a jump start back into routine and “it’s more shocking to the system,” she said. The medical journal points out that Monday is also the day of the week associated with the “highest risk of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack).” Like Crawford, the journal medical experts relate the increased risk to the mental stress of starting a new work week and the increase in activity.

While it’s too late to try it this year, those already at risk for heart attack might benefit from avoiding sudden changes in their biologic rhythms, such as gradually changing their sleep cycles by 15 minutes at a time beginning four days prior to DST, rather than making the shift all at once.

This disruption in the sleep cycle can cause other problems, too, according to the NEJM. Watch out for an increased risk of traffic accidents and workplace injuries.